'OTC shopping bonanza'

Starting January 1, 2011, certain categories of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and medicines will require a prescription in order to get reimbursed through an FSA, HRA, or HSA plan. The change is due to legislation passed within the Health Care Reform.

A major motivator for this was that people with FAS were going on 'OTC shopping bonanzas' at the end of each year, stockpiling OTCs, buying them for friends and family, reselling them, etc.

Not sure adding this to the physician burden was the best solution, but there clearly was a problem that needed to be addressed.

Blog post here


An April 2010 analysis by consultancy Hewitt Associates drew on the firm's database of more than 220 U.S. employers covering more than 6 million employees. Among the findings:

• Only 20 percent of U.S. employees contributed to an FSA (flexible-spending account) in 2010
• Employees who participate typically save between $250 and $640 each year in federal taxes
• Around 7 percent of all FSA claims in 2009 were for OTC drugs